Our USERRA legal team fights for Servicemembers and Reservists.
Too many hard-working veterans and reservists face harassment and retaliation on the job. All they want to do is serve their country and do well in their civilian careers. Instead, they get passed over for promotion, penalized for going to drill, denied their rightful positions when leaving the military, or even fired. This is wrong, and we fight back.
Founded by Army reservists, Equal Justice Solutions offers a unique understanding of the challenges faced by service members. Our USERRA employment lawyers know these issues firsthand, and we’re committed to ensuring that your sacrifices for our country don’t come at the expense of your civilian career.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”) is the federal law that protects Servicemembers and veterans in the workplace. Unfortunately, not all employers honor their obligations under USERRA, leading to various employment issues for service members.
Some of the most common USERRA violations we encounter include:
USERRA allows Servicemembers to take time off for military training and drill periods. However, some employers harass or penalize employees for taking this time, creating a hostile work environment that is illegal.
After returning from active duty, you are entitled to prompt reemployment in your civilian job. Failure to re-employ service members is a violation of USERRA, and we can help you take action to secure your rightful position.
Some employers use military service against employees during evaluations, often pretextually. Pretext means that the employer uses a false reason to justify negative evaluations or adverse employment actions, when the real reason is your military service. This is illegal.
If you were injured or suffered health impacts because of your military service, your employer needs to give you reasonable accommodations so you can do your job. If they don’t, that may be a USERRA violation.
Pretextual termination occurs when an employer fires a Servicemember under a false pretense, with the true reason being related to their military obligations. This is a serious violation of USERRA, and we are prepared to fight for your reinstatement and compensation.
To learn more about your rights and obligations under USERRA, and how to protect yourself when deploying, read an article written by a military employment lawyer about six things you must know if you are deploying to protect your career.
One of the key protections is the escalator principle, which ensures that you return to your civilian job at the same level you would have attained if you had not been called to service.
For example, let’s say you get deployed after being on the job for one year. You then return a year later. You should return with the same seniority, benefits, and pensions as if you had never been gone, i.e. a third year employee. This is the escalator principle.
In our USERRA employment lawyers’ experience, violations of the escalator principle are the most common issue faced by returning service members. Employers often fail to promote or compensate service members as they should, effectively stalling their career progression. Our USERRA veterans’ rights attorneys are here to ensure that doesn’t happen to you.
With the right employment lawyer, USERRA provides powerful remedies for Servicemembers whose rights have been violated. If your employer has failed to comply with the law, you may be entitled to:
Compensation for lost wages due to USERRA violations.
Sometimes, discrimination hurts your career, causing you to lose out on earnings in the future. With competent lawyers, you can recover future earnings loss.
Career damage because of your military service can be devastating. You may be entitled to compensation for this distress.
In cases of willful violations, you may receive double your lost wages.
If you were terminated or not rehired in violation of USERRA, you have the right to return to your position or an equivalent one, with all benefits and seniority restored.
USERRA allows for the recovery of attorney fees, so you won’t bear the financial burden of seeking justice.
We understand that many military members adopt a “suck it up” mentality when facing adversity. However, when it comes to your employment rights, staying silent can cause long-term damage to your career and financial stability. You have the right to be treated fairly, and we’re here to ensure that happens. An employment lawyer can make this happen.
If you believe your USERRA rights have been violated, don’t wait. Contact an Equal Justice Solutions employment lawyer for a free consultation and get the support you need to protect your career and livelihood. Here’s what you can expect from a consultation with an employment lawyer:
An employment lawyer specializing in USERRA, military discrimination, and veterans’ rights will review your situation to determine if your employer has violated your rights under the law
An attorney will guide you on the best steps to take with your employer and your military unit.
An employment lawyer will explain your rights under the law, including how to file a complaint with the Department of Labor and/or pursue legal action.
If we feel a USERRA employment lawyer can help, we offer one, simple, transparent package: A flat rate of $899*, and a success fee of 1/3 of any additional settlement we get you.
Our USERRA employment lawyers are so confident that you will love our work, that we offer a 100% money back guarantee, no questions asked, for the first 60 days of representation, if we don’t settle your case.
With this, you get:
We’ll review your company’s seniority policy, communications with supervisors, severance agreements, or other similar documents.
Too often, retaliation is hidden behind flimsy excuses. Our team knows the laws, and knows the common tricks that unethical employers can use to get back at employees they target without raising any alarm. We know what to look for, and we do a comprehensive analysis for any hidden retaliation.
The laws that protect veterans and the laws also protect disabilities related to service. Many veterans don’t know this, and we do a complete review to see if this is relevant in your circumstance.
The escalator principle and the related reemployment principles ensure that you aren’t penalized in the workplace because you serve our country. Often, this requires a thorough evaluation by an employment lawyer of how the company works and promotes employees to ensure you haven’t lost what is rightfully yours.
After review, a military discrimination employment lawyer will give you a complete, written, strategy on how to proceed, along with the pros and cons of various approaches, written by an employment lawyer specializing in military discrimination and USERRA.
Where appropriate, an employment attorney will also draft a demand letter to your employer, file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor, or file a lawsuit in court.
and send a demand letter to the company, file with DOL, or file a lawsuit. If the employment lawyers misses this deadline, you are entitled to a full refund of your $499.
our employment lawyers will never leave you in the dark, and we guarantee case updates every two weeks.
If it’s in your best interests to sue in court, our employment lawyers have a policy–every case gets a settlement, or appealed to the Supreme Court, as long as the client wishes to proceed, for no additional charge. We have yet to find another law firm that offers this Supreme Court guarantee.
And, it’s worth repeating–being the victim of military discrimination is already intimidating enough. That’s why our representation is risk free, and if you aren’t happy with our USERRA employment lawyers, you get a full refund within the first 60 days of the representation if your case has not settled.
*Consistent with our faith-based mission, if the $899 fee is cost prohibitive for you, please reach out. With proper documentation (such as an asset sheet, tax returns, etc.), we can reduce or waive the initial fee. Our commitment is to ensure that everyone has access to justice, regardless of their financial situation. Additionally, the $499 fee does not include costs to third parties (companies and individuals not affiliated with Equal Justice Solutions), which may be significant in the event of litigation. Your attorney will go over anticipated out of pocket costs with you as part of the review process.
Take the first step towards protecting your employment rights. Fill out the form below or call us to schedule your free consultation with an employment lawyer that specializes in military discrimination and veterans rights. Let our experienced team fight for the justice you deserve.
Equal Justice Solutions is a faith-based public interest law firm serving the seriously harmed, whistleblowers, and business facing real legal and moral challenges.
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